Peter Harris, Sr., of Henrico

Not a known child of Sgt. John Harris and Dorothy Harris

Family

Peter Harris was born ABT 1617 in prob England, and died BEF 1 JUN 1689 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA.

He married Michal Ballou? ABT 1665 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA. She was born ABT 1645 in prob Henrico Co., VA, and died AFT 1 JUN 1689 in Henrico Co., VA.

	  Children of Peter Harris and Michal Ballou? are:

* 2 i. Peter Harris was born ABT 1666 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA, and died ABT 1704 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA.

• + 3 ii. Anne Harris was born ABT 1667, and died AFT 1 JUN 1689 in Henrico Co., VA.
• 4 iii. John Harris was born ABT 1668 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA, and died AFT FEB 1703/04 in Henrico Parish, Henrico Co., VA.
• + 5 iv. Michall Harris was born ABT 1672 in Henrico

Notes

Anne (Harris) Bays is the daughter of Peter Harris, Sr. (b.ca1617, England or VA) and his wife Mechall Unknown*, who in addition also had a daughter named Mechall and sons Peter (Jr.) and John.

From https://www.familytreedna.com/public/harris-mtdna/default.aspx?sect...

Group 10 - Peter Harris (c1618-1689) of Henrico Co., VA & other lines. I-M253

Discussion

From https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/harris/21369/

The birthyear of ca1617 for Peter Harris, Sr. that one commonly sees on the Internet is derived from a 1677 Henrico Co., VA court deposition.In that deposition, Peter's age is given as about 60 years old, thus placing his birthyear as about 1617.(Ironically, the deposition itself relates to an age matter - namely as to John Porter, son of William Porter, being 18 years old.)I've not seen the original reference myself but Harris researcher Kathryn Wiggins cites it as being from "Henrico County, Virginia Colonial Records in Five Volumes, Volume 1, p.40."

Harris researchers typically give birthyears in about the 1670-1680 range for the four (4) children named by the Peter Harris, Sr. in his Will dated 20 September 1687 and recorded 1 June 1689 in Henrico Co.(The children are named in the Will in the following order:Peter Harris, John Harris, Michall Harris and Anne Base.)I believe that that birthyear dating range for the children is most likely correct for several reasons:

1. The marriage for the son Peter Harris, Jr. (to Mary Smith) has a date of 26 June 1695.(I've not seen the original reference myself, which is said to be a record from St. John's Church in Henrico Co., VA:ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/henrico/vitals/marriages/1699.txt)This places Peter, Jr.'s birthyear as being most likely sometime after ca. 1665 and is thus consistent with a birthyear for him in the 1670's as is commonly given.

2. In Peter Harris, Sr.'s 1687 Will, the daughter Michall (named for the mother) is named by her maiden name and has thus not yet married, making her most likely not more than about 21 years old.This again places her birthyear as being most likely after ca1665 and is thus also consistent with a birthyear for her in the 1670's as is commonly given.

3.The order of the children listed in the 1687 Will gives John's name after that of Peter, Jr.Per convention, this means that John would have been born after Peter, Jr.Likewise, the daughter Anne is listed in the Will after the naming of the daughter Michall, meaning she was likely born after Michall.Thus, both John and Anne were most likely born after the earliest likely date of ca1665 previously derived for the other two siblings.

With regard to a court deposition giving a birthyear of about 1650 for a John Harris, note that there was at least one other Harris family - unrelated to the Peter Harris, Sr. family - living in Henrico Co., VA at that time.Namely, the descendants of Captain Thomas Harris, father of Major William Harris (b.ca 1629 in Henrico Co., VA).(We know that the two families are most likely unrelated from results of the Harris FamilyTreeDNA Project.)There were other unrelated Harris families in the area at that time as well, in neighboring Charles City County for example, and this John Harris (b.ca1650) could also belong to such a third family.In any event, the John Harris born ca1650 is not likely to be the John Harris named in the 1687 Will of Peter Harris, Sr.

I should mention also that although Peter Bays/Baze/Baize (I) (b.ca1685, VA) lived and was most likely born in Henrico County, we now know that it's not very likely that he would have been from Manakin Town, which was located on the south side of the James River (as a settlement for French Huguenots beginning in about 1700 and previously a Monocan Indian site).Rather, Peter lived [and was presumably born to Edward Bays ("Base"), Sr. and Anne Harris] on the NORTH side of the James River.We can presume this because all of the land records we have for members of the early Bays/Baze/Baize families (several deeds and grants from 1686 to 1725) show those individuals as living exclusively on the north side of the James River.

There was previously some confusion by earlier Bays researchers who mistakenly thought that Peter Bays (I) might have been a Huguenot refugee himself - because some documents which have his name on them also occasionally have the name of an actual Huguenot from Manakin/Monacan Town on them.But this overlap was only because of their relative close geographical proximity to one another, resulting in trade between the two sides of the river, and more importantly was because of the sharing of a common courthouse at Varina* where the documents were prepared and/or recorded.[*Varina was itself located on the north side of the James River in Henrico Co., VA]

So rather than coming from the south, I think it's most likely that the earliest Henrico Co. Bays/Baze/Baize families came to that county from either neighboring Charles City Co., VA to the east, or from neighboring New Kent Co., VA to the north.The former county is where the family of Peter Harris, Sr. may have come from, and the latter county is where one finds reference to the John "Base" who is indirectly listed in a land grant of 10 July 1658 (550 acres to a Lt. Col. Robert Abrall) as one of eleven (11) people "transported" (i.e., a transportee or "headright" for whom land was received).This seemingly makes this John (Bays) of a reasonable age to be a potential father for Edward "Base" (and his likely brother Richard Bays, Sr.) although such a relationship, if any, remains to be proven

Citations

• "D & W 1688-1697 P. 65 Henrico Co., VA 20 Sep 1687 June 1689 "Will of Peter Harris : WW 20 Sep 1687 WP 1 June 1689: Names sons Peter and John Harris. Names daughters Michall Harris and Ann Bass (ed: se note under Anne's husband for a different spelling of Bass). Wife Michall Harris. Wit: Thomas Cocke, Robert Woodson, Thomas East, Edward Mosby."

Links

• https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=stevensp...